A Sister's Shame Read Online Free Page B

The monkey chattered and pushed his furry knuckles around his eyes. ‘He’s sorry, Mrs G. See, he’s crying.’
    Everyone laughed again, and Elsie relented. ‘Poor little bugger. He shouldn’t be cooped up all day in that cage of yours. He should be free, swinging from trees in Africa or wherever
he comes from.’
    ‘Oh, he was born in a circus,’ Nina said as she held the little monkey close, ‘and wouldn’t leave Wippet even if he could.’
    Marie knew that Nina worked as a cloakroom attendant in one of the West End clubs. She was rather glamorous, dressed this evening in a cream-coloured pleated skirt and top, and her blonde hair
was long and smooth. It always amazed Marie that she didn’t appear to have a boyfriend. She seemed more Teddy Turner’s type, though Marie had noticed that she rarely spoke to him if
they happened to pass on the stairs.
    ‘You all look very smart,’ Nina said in her quiet voice. ‘Are you going somewhere special?’
    ‘Yes,’ said Vesta at once. ‘To the Queen’s, to see Teddy.’
    Nina didn’t reply. Marie felt sorry for her. She never seemed to have any friends other than Wippet. Elsie must have felt the same, she decided, as Elsie said quickly, ‘You’re
welcome to join us, ducks, but you’ll have to pay for yourself.’
    ‘That’s very nice of you, but no thanks.’ Nina turned and ran up the two flights of stairs with the little monkey safe in her arms.
    ‘Well, we ain’t asking you, love,’ chuckled Elsie to Wippet as he lingered. ‘This is a girls’ night out.’
    Wippet laughed as he moved his small body almost painfully up the stairs. ‘I wouldn’t be able to see over the heads anyway, Mrs G,’ he joked, and then, turning slowly, he
added, ‘but next week Kaiser and I are to return to the travelling fairground at Blackheath for a few days and perform a special trick. So if you all want to come and see us, you’re
welcome.’
    ‘What’s the trick?’ asked Elsie curiously.
    ‘I hope to escape my chains underwater.’
    Marie gasped. ‘Ain’t that dangerous?’
    ‘Only if I can’t undo the locks. Then that will be the last you will ever see of poor Wippet!’
    A gasp went round all the women before, finally, he grinned and went upstairs.
    ‘Why did you ask Nina to come with us?’ Marie heard Vesta ask Elsie as they trooped outside.
    ‘She ain’t a bad kid,’ Elsie said kindly. ‘Thought I’d make the offer as she looked a bit lonely.’
    ‘Didn’t fancy her tagging along,’ Vesta said as she fell into step with Marie, behind Elsie and Ada. ‘She’s a strange sort. So is that Wippet. They make an odd
couple, don’t you think?’
    ‘I like them,’ Marie shrugged. ‘Wippet’s always very friendly and so is Nina, though she doesn’t say much.’
    ‘Wippet worked at a fairground before he came here a couple of years ago,’ Elsie said, over her shoulder. ‘He rescued Kaiser from a circus and taught him tricks to use in their
act. Wippet and Nina might look a bit strange, but I ain’t ever heard a bad word come from either of them.’
    Marie noticed that, at Elsie’s tactful rebuke, Vesta lost interest in the subject. Soon she began to talk about Teddy again. Marie smiled to herself. The characters in this house were what
she loved most about living in Sphinx Street. Even Elsie was eccentric, this being apparent tonight as she led the way, dressed in all her finery. She had a love of gold, and was flaunting it: gold
rings on her fingers, and a gold and black turban-shaped hat with a feather stuck in the folds. Her chocolate-coloured suit had little gold flecks in the fabric, which sparkled on her small, round
figure. Her greying hair, which she died with henna, was twisted into kiss curls under her hat. For a woman in her seventies, she looked rather admirable. Marie had once heard her father remark
that, thanks to Joe’s parents, Elsie wasn’t short of a bob or two.
    ‘I’ve never been so excited,’ breathed Vesta, as